curb american gun violence, this okay days after the murders of children and teachers in the halls of a connecticut school. the formation of an interagency task force headed by none other than vice president joe biden, long time advocate of gun control. >> he wants to expand the conversation beyond those specific areas of legislation to look at other ways we can address this problem. >> back in the devastating hamlet of newtown, connecticut, five funerals and four wakes, a combination of nine different services held for sandy hook victims including the funerals for hero teacher vicki soto who died trying to hide her students and principal dawn hochsprung, who reportedly died trying to stop the gunman. a wake will be held in new york for teacher anne marie murphy who lost her life also. new today, we're learning the students of sandy hook will return to school but in a neighboring community of monroe. they start back january 2nd. for the rest of newtown, a new

normal settled over the community with other area schools open, with students in their second day back in class. >> whether you wait a day or a month or whatever, you know, there is no -- there is no rule book. >> the nra breaking its silence. the powerful gun lobby will hold a major news conference to announce the actions it plans to take in the wake of the elementary school tragedy. the national rifle association breaking that silence for the first time yesterday saying it was prepared to make meaningful contributions to make sure this never happens again. the gun rights organization and gun rights advocates in congress both under public pressure to join the call for action. >> just wonder -- this long after a mass killing like that, little 6 and 7-year-olds, there is not a single republican in america, in elected office, not going to step up and say something? >> i think that says something in itself. >> i think it is time to talk,

guys. one way or the other, where do you stand on this issue? >> joining me this morning is connecticut congressman joe courtney. good to have you here. the president is speaking in 45 minutes from now to announce this new interagency task force on gun control. he's not expected to announce any new specific gun regulation policy proposals, however, does this suggest to you that some serious policy is coming and coming soon? >> it does. the difference in the political landscape in six days, you know, is dramatic. that's really, i think, not an overstatement. when i was there sunday night at the interfaith vigil, when he was talking, he was very clear. he was not reading a speech or talking points, this was really coming from the heart, and he had a look in his face when he came in, and on that stage, which showed that this is different. this is -- it better be

different because the whole world is watching. and, you know, i would just note, you know, vicki soto's funeral today, my niece was her classmate at eastern connecticut state university, and feeling, you know, awe, just human excellence in courage in terms of her actions that day are something that, again, has got to be used as a measuring stick for the elected representatives of this country, that, you know, she did her job and now it is time for us to do our job. >> you talk about the different tone and the distinction that we're hearing, there are certain voices on the right that are lending different type of perspective to this, like texas governor rick perry. the latest to advocate training and arming schoolteachers. the teacher heralded for putting the kids in cabinets in her classroom. her services held today. then bob mcdonald yesterday

saying that it is a conversation worth having about, arming teachers. do you think that's an answer for connecticut and schools across the country? >> i don't. school safety is clearly something that we need to inventory. i'm a member of the education and labor committee next january and have written to the chairman saying, you know, we need to have a real information sharing of best practices. right now school superintendents are getting inundated with solicitations from security firms. we need to help public schools deal with this new reality. but frankly, you know, the rick perrys of the world could, i think, do a lot more in terms of trying to move this discussion forward by acknowledging right out of the bat that the second amendment, which is clearly part of our bill of rights, does not prohibit, even under the most recent scalia decision the state from moving forward on common sense measures in terms of who gets guns, under what circumstances and what type of technology. >> certainly we're hearing from people who have spoken out, pro

guns, second amendment right advocates like joe manchin, mark warner advocating for a look at stronger gun control. some have seen resistance to this. colleagues of yours telling roll call just yesterday that we're going to take a look at what happened there and what can be done to help avoid it in the future. gun control is not going to be something that i would support. i want to point out to everybody here, congressman, that goodlatte, an a-rating from the national rivfle association. how to you and other gun control advocates plan to address the lack of appetite for any type of new legislation among colleagues there in the new yore? >> well, again, this is going to be a very challenging task. your description of the judiciary committee as a roadblock is really something the public needs to know about.

but what i would just say is that the president now engaged, obviously with a senate and having real leaders like mark warner and senator manchin coming out and saying the status quo is just unacceptable, i do think that there is going to be public pressure where my colleague, mr. goodlatte will have to respond to. and frankly, you know, if you look at civil rights battles, other issues, you know, the fact is grassroots public opinion can breakthrough even the rules of the house of representatives. >> you make a great point about public opinion here. newtown united is a group that has already formed and has already shown up there in washington, d.c. this is a compilation of people who live in newtown, and one of the people who spoke -- very touching, one of the fathers whose son survived the attack at sandy hook. >> every time something like

columbi columbine, aurora are happening, i would avert my eyes and i will still think that something will be done. but all those beliefs were shattered on friday. and now i think we all need to speak up. >> as we know, as we have been reporting today, it is one of the busier days for funerals and wakes, taking place for those that have been lost in the newtown tragedy. it is almost too raw for many of them to get involved in this kind of advocacy or this kind of support. but have you signaled to any of your colleagues, in other states, where this has been a tragedy, as we look at what we have witnessed in aurora, colorado, tucson, arizona, are you trying to reach out to build a coalition of your colleagues from states that have been affected by this, for the rest of their lives, because they lost the loved ones of this type of violence. is that what you're trying to

build your coalition from inside those walls there? absolutely. and what i would just tell you is that just in the last few days, the fact is that people in member offices are hearing unprecedented numbers of e-mails, calls, letters, you know, public opinion in terms of their newspapers back home, that is changing, again, the landscape around their thinking and approaching this issue. i think that the two senators who, you know, again, i'm sure were motivated by their own soul searching, but frankly they know that the world changed. and that this is going to be a different political climate. the president's engagement is critical in terms of just, again, he's got a bully pulpit that, you know, is -- dwarves any other place or microphone in this building here. and, again, i just think that, you know, no school today in america, you know, truly feels safe.

and that's not a situation that the political community can ignore. this is a different world that we're in, from six days ago. >> joe courtney, thank you so much. we'll have the president's live rourke remarks at 11:45 a.m. we want to bring in our wednesday political power panel. jim frederick of "time" magazine, just naming the president the person of the year. also joining the conversation, msnbc contributor goldie taylor. and she's the managing editor of the goldie taylor project. and rounding out, republican strategist alice store, our third guest. great to have you all here. jim, i start with this. as we mention the nra is planning this news conference on friday. they have been very silent on this issue up until yesterday afternoon. but our first read makes this point about the nra. normally the pattern is to lie low and duck ever having to truly engage in a gun debate so close to a mass shooting. this time it is choosing a different pr strategy. we know that the president is

coming out today to unveil this interagency task force. based on the heels of the reasons why time picked him as person of the year, it looks at where a person has come from, where they're taking people into the future, is this going to be a surprise issue for president obama's second term, he's got to take on head on. >> yes. definitely. we started talking about obama being person of the year long before six days ago. this is a subject that he has studiously avoided. i think this is the fourth or the fifth mass shooting that happened in his presidency. he has in fact laid low throughout all of this. if you see the way he's behaved since this particular shooting, the way he was so visibly moved, the way he has even acknowledged the kind of personal responsibility for not taking action sooner, i think quite to his surprise and the administration's surprise this has moved to the front of the agenda. this isn't going to go away and this is now along with all of the other issues that we were talking about when we chose him as person of the year, this is

now folded in and has moved to the head of the class. this is top line-item now. >> so, alice, ron barber who was wounded in the tucson shooting, who took over gabby giffords' seat, said this of the second amendment when he appeared earlier on "the daily rundown". >> you call yourself a supporter of the second amendment, very clear. >> i do support it. i believe that it is important that we protect the right to bear arms. but i think there are limits. we already have laws that limit the kinds of weapons and grenade launchers and all of that that you can't have. to not do something about the assault weapons, high capacity magazines, i think is irresponsible. >> alice, based on that, for americans who do support the second amendment, why can't we question the logic of assault weapon sales for the general public? and look at the past occurrences of what we have been witnessing just over the last several years, and say, the logic here does not support having these arms being sold to the mass public?

>> well, our heart goes out to him and all the people in newtown, but we have to look at the fact that many of the mass shootings have taken place in areas where there are bans in place and they don't work. they simply take weapons out of the hands of innocent people. i think this task force is a fantastic idea. i think the president is spot on in getting the ball rolling on this. but we have to look at the fact that it is not just looking at the guns. rasmussen came out with a report that shows 86% of the people want to look at how to take action on mental illness and then violence on television and video games and then look at weapons. it is a lot of talk goes into solving this problem but it is not just taking guns from innocent people in this country. >> we look at the fact that mental illness is a large issue that needs to be looked at here, for someone like lanza's mother, had no history of mental illness, she just lives with someone with a history of mental illness. how are we supposed to police people who choose to have

weapons in their home, but also by no fault of their own have family members who suffer from mental illness that can easily get a hold of those weapons. there is no way around this, other than to make sure the weapons aren't sold to the mass public. >> well, sadly we have millions of guns out there already in the hands of people, and what we do understand in this particular case, of course, a lot of details are still coming in, miss lanza was in the process of possibly seeking some kind of treatment for her son, that he didn't want, and that's why he lashed out. we'll find out more as the days and weeks unfold, but possibly if he could have had more treatment early on, we might not be talking about this today. >> an nra webcast last night, senator barbara boxer moments ago she delivered this statement on capitol hill. take a listen. >> our teachers now have to become policemen?

and they have to be in a situation where they're going to make judgments, they're going to be in a situation where a problem student could grab a -- police, this is not going to make our school safer. >> republican lawmaker goldie in tennessee plans to introduce a bill to arm and train its state teachers. rick perry has spoken out on this, bob mcdonald voicing his support to look into this type of training. is this really a proposed solution to gun violence in school? is the answer more guns? and putting our teachers basically in war zones of school cams? >> it truly isn't. i attended a high school that had heightened security through a metal detector before we went into school every day and armed security officer on our campus. but that was a trained armed security officer. that was his job. we can't ask teachers to be educators, to be social workers and to be members of law enforcement as well. and to tell you the truth,

teachers are no more immune to mental maladies than any other member of the public. what if a specific teacher happens to suffer from depression, what if that teacher turns that gun on themselves or their students? who is liable then? and by the way, who is going to pay for the liability insurance for a million teachers to carry weapons into the schools. there are so many questions that this, you know, opens this up. and, by the way, what kind of firepower are we going to give them to guard themselves against, say, an adam lanza who has an ar-15 in his hands. are we going to give them a .22? what kind of gun are they going to use? armor piercing bullets if someone is wearing a bulletproof vest? i don't know how far this goes. i think the nra talks about a slippery slope. this is a slippery slope. at the end of the day, a lot of things have to be on the table. we do have to talk about meaningful access to mental health. we have to talk about some of the inherent violence that happens in our popular culture. hollywood is part of that. video games is a part of that, a child playing video games in a

basement for three hours, you have got a problem. and then the last thing is, you know, i think -- i believe in the second amendment, i was a gun owner up until recently myself, but military style weapons on the street as a member of the marine corps, i got to tell you, they don't belong in civilian hands. if you can't get it done in six shots, you need firearms training. multiple clips, 30 a piece, simply just shouldn't be in civilian hands. >> goldie taylor, thank you so much. i appreciate all of you joining me today. the president expected to speak at 11:45 a.m. eastern. we'll carry the remarks right here on msnbc. trending on twitter now, victor cruz, who visited the family of 6-year-old jack pinto, little jack idolized the new york giants wide receiver and was buried in a replica cruz jersey. after that visit, he tweeted much love to the entire pinto family, great people with huge hearts. i'm sorry again for your loss. looking at life through a different lens. and sparked by an idea from

nbc's ann curry, acts of kindness all over the country and the globe for that matter. 26 acts, are you part of the movement to honor the sandy hook victims and if so, what are you doing? tweet me or find me on facebook. ahead, a new war of words breaking out from the white house and house speaker john boehner on boehner's so-called plan b, the political chess game showing no signs of letting up. are we closer to a deal or farther apart with days to go before the country heads over the fiscal cliff. we'll talk with independent vermont senator bernie sanders coming up next. look who's back. again? it's embarrassing it's embarrassing! we can see you carl. we can totally see you. come on you're better than this...all that prowling around. yeah, you're the king of the jungle. have you thought about going vegan carl? hahaha!! you know folks who save hundreds of dollars by switching to geico sure are happy. how happy are they jimmy? happier than antelope with night-vision goggles. nice!

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welcome back, everybody. new developments today in the battle over the so-called fiscal cliff. the white house pushing back against speaker john boehner's so-called plan b, which would keep taxes from going up on

americans making a million dollars or less if no deal is reached by december 31st. the white house saying in a statement this morning the president urges the republican leadership to work with us to resolve remaining differences and find a reasonable solution to the situation today instead of engaging in political exercises that increase the possibility that taxes go up on every american. boehner firing back just minutes ago saying the white house's opposition to a backup plan to ensure taxes don't rise on american families is growing more bizarre and irrational by the day. boehner's plan b came as the white house and the speaker appeared to be making some major concessions that are not sitting well with their bases. something the democrats are calling nothing more than political posturing. >> we have to get the republicans to meet us at least halfway. every time we think we make progress, they walk away even further. we have 13 days to get this solved and time for the republicans to quit their political stunts and start negotiating in true good faith. >> all right, so from the right to left, let's cut down the

middle and bring in bernie sanders. great to have you here. what do you make of the war of words between the white house and the speaker? >> i think it tells me why congress' ratings are at 9%. i'm surprised they're that high. this is not a debate between democrats and republicans. what it is is a debate between what the american people want and poll after poll makes that extremely clear. and where congress is at. what do the american people say? yesterday, do not cut, overwhelming numbers, do not cut social security, medicare and medicaid. 74% of the people say ask people making $250,000 a year or more to pay more in taxes. so what you have is the republicans coming up with a horrendous proposal for so-called chain cpi, cut social security benefits significantly, cut benefits, for disabled veterans. i had a press conference with all the veterans organization and they're very clear, they have said, you know what, we

have sacrificed enough. we have lost our eyes, we lost our limbs. do not balance the budget on the backs of disabled vets. senior organizations, the american people are saying let's do deficit reduction, but do it in a way that is fast. >> let's look at where the continuing sticking point remains. over the revenue. the president has lowered his tax revenue demand by $200 billion, offering to start the tax rate increases at $400,000 of income. so $400,000 right there. the president also conceded on changes to social security as you bring up that would lead to lower cost of living increases. speaker boehner offering a trillion dollars in new revenue. that's up from his original offer of $800 billion. and that would come from raising rates on million dollar incomes and higher in this country, in exchange for that the president's spending and entitlement cuts. there is word, though, senator sanders, the speaker will consider this one year extension on the debt limit. they take that off the table and not have to worry about that

come february. but if that is a possibility, what numbers could you accept overall in the end? >> look, you know, when we talk about sacrifices, cuts here and paying there, you got to start off with an overall context of what is happening in america. i do not think it is an equal sacrifice to ask a multimillionaire who is doing phenomenally well, whose effective tax rates are the lowest in decades, to pay more in taxes and balance that with a disabled veteran who lost a limb and cut those benefits. that is not an equal sacrifice. we have already cut about a trillion and a half dollars and made those cuts in the last two years. to my mind, given the fact that the gap between the very, very rich and everybody else is going wide, what the president has got to do is stand up and say, no, i'm not going to cut social security, i'm not going to cut disabled veterans benefits. i am going to ask wealthy

individuals to start paying their fair share of taxes. that's overwhelmingly what the american people want to hear. >> plan b, speaker boehner is expected to take his plan b to the house for a vote tomorrow. is that just doa when it gets to the senate? >> of course it is. you're not going to have anywhere near the kind of revenue you need by just asking people who are making a million dollars a year or more. that will necessitate as boehner and the republicans want more cuts in social security, medicare and medicaid. >> senator -- >>middle of a recession. >> thank you for making time for me. i appreciate it. >> thank you. coming up, a blistering new report on the benghazi attack, blaming the state department for grossly inadequate security, systemic failures and leadership deficiencies. bill richardson joins me to weigh in on that. perfefrom anger to action,

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a panel wrote, systemic failures in leadership and management at senior levels within two bureaus of the state department resulted in a special mission security posture that was inadequate for benghazi, grossly inadequate to deal with the attacks that took place, despite the lapses, the board determined no one violated their duties and does not recommend disciplinary action. let's bring in former new mexico gove governor bill richardson. as we talk about this, it is a scathing report, the secretary of state hillary clinton was set to testify today, canceled after fainting and reportedly suffering a concussion. there have been four other congressional hearings with several leaders have testified but no secretary clinton. as we look at the clock, she has a month left here. is it a mistake for her not to

testify? >> well, she is not well. she had a concussion. there were medical reasons for not -- for her not to appear. perhaps she'll appear later, but i think what the report also says, thomas, is that one of the problems is that the congress is not funding our diplomatic security, our embassies, our consulates abroad as much as they should. so i know it is a scathing report. near east bureau, bureau of diplomatic security. i've worked in the state department. diplomatic security is an excellent organization. there were some failures. there were some lack of coordination. but it also pointed to some 24 recommendations that secretary clinton said she will accept to improve the situation. >> as you say, the secretary of state not well, some conservatives, though skeptical, about clinton's reasons for not appearing at today's hearing. i want you to listen to what former u.n. ambassador john

bolton said regarding clinton's health. >> when you don't want to go to a meeting or a conference or an event, you have a diplomatic illness. and this is a diplomatic illness to beat the band. i certainly hope it is not serious, but this was revealed in a way that i think was not transparent. >> he says every diplomat has this sort of so-called diplomatic illness. what do you think of those comments and does this report impact the legacy -- a stellar legacy she leaves behind. this is the one thing going out the door that could be a black mark if she resurfaces to potentially run for president come 2016. >> well, first, it is not a diplomatic illness. it is a legitimate illness. she works enormously hard. second of state is probably the toughest job in the cabinet because you're traveling around the world, dealing with several crises every day. so i'm going to put aside what

ambassador bolton said. secondly, in terms of her legacy, she leaves a good legacy. look, she is head of a huge department. you can't blame her for something that happened in benghazi. she has taken responsibility. but i think this report also says, thomas, that we need more marines to patrol some of our embassies rather than contract personnel. more funding is needed from the congress. we need to find ways to ensure that our embassy personnel are protected all around the world. and that's going to take resources. and, yes, there were management failures, but at the same time there is a need for more resources, more technology, less reliance on some of the -- it was obvious that some of the libyan trainees were not up to par, but it also says that report that our military, our

cia, our diplomatic personnel on the ground responded positively and that there was no cover-up in washington, that nobody in washington denied any help. so, again, a good report. credible people. ambassador pickering, admiral mullen, let's move on and implement the 24 recommendations to secretary clinton as already accepted that are sensible. >> there are those recommendations and they did recommend no disciplinary action. so we shall see if the secretary does come to testify before she leaves her term as secretary of state. bill richardson, great to see you. thanks so much. >> thank you, thomas. >> absolutely. his family says former federal judge, supreme court nominee and conservative icon robert bork died of complications from heart problems. bork a polarizing figure. he was accused of being a hatchet man for president nixon when he fired archibald cox.

president reagan nominated him to the supreme court in 1987. but he was rejected following contentious senate hearings that spawned the term borked, unfairly tacking someone's reputation and views. robert bork was 85 years old. [ woman ] ring. ring. progresso. i just served my mother-in-law your chicken noodle soup

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bayer aspirin was the first thing the emts gave me. now, i'm on a bayer aspirin regimen. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. [ woman ] learn from my story. on looking at a range of things we're going to do with so this issue of gun violence in the united states. >> eric holder giving brief remarks ahead of the president's unveil of a new interagency task force that will be helmed by vice president joe biden. talking about what can be done to curb gun violence in our nation's schools. we're going to take you back to that podium there as soon as the president shows up to unveil what the interagency task force will look like. we want to move on and bring you other stories that are topping the news now. school officials in oklahoma have announced the closing of

all public schools in the district today due to reports of a credible threat. there is an ongoing investigation and students are expected to return after their winter break. an 11-year-old in utah may face criminal charges after bringing a gun to school on monday. it was reportedly encouraged by his parents to use it for protection. in south carolina, high school student was arrested after officials found weapons in his car involving -- including a revolver, knife and dozens of rounds of ammunition. high school student in maryland is now in a mental hospital after making what authorities call a credible threat to possibly shoot and kill others. investigators found charts and diagrams in the student's locker. they believe he did have access to weapons. the late senator daniel inouye will lie enstate in the capital rotunda on thursday, a rare honor usually granted to presidents. he died monday from respiratory complications. jennie rivera will be remembered with a public memorial today in los angeles. the latin music star died

earlier this month in a plane crash in northern mexico. and the man known as the most wanted deadbeat dad in america was arrested in l.a. according to officials, sand owes more than a million dollars in child support for his three children. as americans prepare to travel for the christmas holiday, the first blizzard of this winter season has arrived. moving across the country over the next couple of days creating some really big headaches, travel issues from denver all the way to chicago. blizzard warnings and advisories are in effect from colorado to michigan. you can see that wide swath of midsection of the country there. forecasters predicting 10 to 15 inches of snow in certain areas with the worst of it hitting tonight into tomorrow. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] everyone deserves the gift

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. welcome back. developing now, within minutes president obama will appear with vice president joe biden in the white house briefing room to announce a new effort to curb gun violence in this country. as we await the president, house minority leader nancy pelosi announcing the formation of a

new house democratic task force aimed at preventing gun violence as well. >> this is a step, some steps that we all want to take, that members have expressed, that we must go even further. restoring the assault weapon ban, strengthening our background checks system to ensure dangerous firearms do not fall into the wrong hands, addressing the issue of mental health, taking weapons out of the hands of those in the greatest danger of doing harm to themselves and to others, and addressing the issue of violence in our society. >> nbc news white house correspondent peter alexander joins me to talk more about this. the president is expected to announce that vice president joe biden is going to lead the administration's response to the shootings, but explain what we know so far about this interagency task force, how much bite, how much teeth is it going to have? >> it is a good question. we're not certain in terms of any policy specifics. we don't expect to hear those specifics today. we did get some hint of what the president's priorities will be going forward with this

interagency process as you noted being overseen by the vice president joe biden. yesterday it was the press secretary jay carney who said in his language that the president would, quote, actively support the reinstatement of the assault weapons ban, he might -- that it was very possible, to use the word he used, he would potentially focus as well on banning the high capacity ammunition clips like the one used by the shooter in new toto connecticut, and support trying to close the gun show loopholes. but as we look inside, look at where the president will be speaking, a short time from now, this is a pretty fitting venue for the remarks the president will make, expected to take only about ten minutes today. he should be arriving momentarily. this, of course, is the brady press briefing room named after the former press secretary james brady who was severely injured back in 1981, then as press secretary for president reagan when hit by bullets in an

assassination attempt earlier that year. we now renew this conversation about the need for stronger laws and more restrictions as it relates to dealing with those people who try to get their hands on weapons and with weapons themselves. >> we know yesterday that the president had the opportunity to put members of his cabinet, like secretary of education, arne duncan, and eric holder, kathleen sebelius. why is joe biden being put at the top of the interagency task force? >> it is a good question. the president's right hand man, as vice president, he would be the right man for this job. but he's been a long time advocate of gun control, back in 1994, when he was then serving as senator from delaware, he was involved in writing that legislation for the federal assault weapons ban, ultimately the one that expired in 2004, the very ban that the president now seems interested in reinstating as senator dianne feinstein said she would revisit that legislation on the first day of the new congress. he is always a foil to gun

rights advocates in this country. the nra gave vice president joe biden an f rating, thomas, and refer to him, i think their language was exactly as the most anti-gun vice president in american history. >> nbc's peter alexander at the white house for us this morning. peter, thanks so much. we'll go back to the president when he makes those remarks. we have heard the calls before, the chilling sounds from emergency personnel, calling in crimes that are happening, the ones that immediately took place after sandy hook elementary on friday are heart stopping. and as we wait for the president to lay out what meaningful action he may take with this interagency task force, i do have some people now that are taking meaningful action on their own. joining me now, shannon watts, founder of 1 million moms for gun control. and kristen ropinger, momsrising.org. we wait for the president to reveal what this interagency task force will mean, but what are you doing specifically with your actions and what do you want to hear specifically from

the president? >> well, we want to hear four specific things. we want him to reinstate the assault weapons ban, strengthen dianne feinstein, we want him to close the gun show loopholes, we want him to ban the sale and manufacture of assault weapons like those alleged hunting weapons used in the massacre and ammunition that people can buy to be limited. you cannot buy any amount of fertilizer, sudafed you want, but you can buy unlimited ammunition. we want common sense laws like mayor bloomberg is proposing. >> common sense. other people on the right would call that a big wish list to try to get some of that done. and moments ago, senator john d. rockefeller, he introduced legislation to impact of violent video games and other content on children's well-being. so much of our focus is on guns. do you think violent video games

and the hollywood influence and news media influence, our coverage of wars over the last 12 years, is that a red herring to how our kids have been pickled in images these days, or are they really part of this problem and the chemistry to be blamed here? >> you know, i think it is a red herring. video games are worldwide. yet the united states has the most gun owners per capita of any country in the nation. and frankly moms, moms rising, we have over 1 million members, are fed up with outdated gun safety laws. we had 16 mass shootings alone this year that have been reported in the news media with many more unreported. in fact, 34 people are killed each day. we don't want to drop our kids off at school, at the mall, at the movies, and being worried if they'll walk out again. it is absolutely time to update our outdated gun safety laws. >> the nra has been quiet up until last night about this, putting out a statement about their press conference coming on friday in washington, d.c.

but in part saying in their statement the nra is prepared to offer meaningful contributions to help make sure that this never happens again. shannon, what do you think they mean by meaningful contributions? what do you hope to see from the nra? >> i think they mean anything that won't limit their profits. there is 4 million members in the nra, there are 84 million moms and we are mad, and i would suggest that in about eight weeks you ask a legislator who they're more scared of, the nra or moms. and i think the answer will be different than it is today. >> kristen, you talk about moms in this country and the more than 1 million you have supporting your efforts, when we talk about a mom in this case, nancy lanza, the mother of the shooter, adam, in your estimation, what responsibility does she bear? because as we talk about stricter gun regulations in this country, while lanza may not have qualified in his attempts to purchase weapons, nancy lanza did qualify. and was a gun enthusiast. so how are we supposed to be able to trust in american

society that people that are suffering from mental health challenges don't have easy access to this type of weapon or these types of weapons because someone in their family or life is deemed as stable enough to purchase them? >> well, as noted in previous reports, the type of ammunition, the high capacity magazines used in the recent shooting in connecticut would not be legal if some of the proposals that many are putting forward. and moms want to see full background checks for all gun purchases, both on the internet and at gun shows. we do want to see a ban on all assault weapons as well as the high capacity magazines and we want a deep look we really want a deep look at the federal gun trafficking laws, so people illegally putting guns on our streets face serious penalties. >> people around the country are proud of the work you're doing. thank you so much for joining me. once again, i want to point out we're waiting for the president's comments, the live remarks from the white house

briefing room, where he will announce the interagency task force to evaluate gun laws, gun restriction policy, probably, coming our way in the new year. stay tuned to msnbc for that. we asked, you answered. #26acts or #20 acts. are you part of the movement to honor the sandy hook victims, if so, what are you doing? wearing a ribbon every day for the next 26 days. for one of my producers, lindsey in honor of the sandy hook victims, i sent six $20 staples gift cards to my elementary school. you can keep those comments coming into us on twitter or facebook. [ man ] ring ring... progresso

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once again, as we've been telling you this hour, president obama expected to speak any moment from now. he's going to be introducing a formation of a new multi-agency gun violence task force. it's going to be led by vice president joe biden. we're going to bring that to you

live as soon as the president begins his remarks there. it's time now for the pollee side bar. this time not in a divorce court, the former governor and former first lady reportedly both considering a run for the house seat vacated by tim scott. he was just appointed to jim demint's senate seat. take a look at this picture, how this story went down we're not exactly sure, but the white house releasing this new picture of the president getting caught by the super hero's web. the cute spider-man is a staffer's son. the picture was taken on october 26th, so just days before the presidential election, days before halloween. nbc gets a look at christmas past and christmas present. the white house with this unprecedented access to 1600 pennsylvania avenue. ten presidential families features, as well, hosted by meredith viera and jenna bush hagger as the executive

producer. >> we're such a small group of women and men that have had the privilege of living in the white house, although i never lived there, but spending time in the white house, even though we're defined by so much more, our careers, husbands, children, it's a privilege. we thought it would be wonderful. >> a white house christmas, first families remember airs tomorrow night on nbc at 8:00 p.m. that's going to wrap things up for me, thanks for your time. see you back tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. eastern. don't go anywhere, "now with alex wagner" is coming up next. obviously, you're going to get the president, my friend. >> stay tuned, thomas. as you mentioned, he will be introducing a biden-led policy push in the aftermath of the newtown shooting tragedy. we'll unpack his remarks, plan, and strategy, and talk about the business of guns with senator barbara boxer, ryan grim, kurt anderson, eric bates. plus, the edge of compromise or the brink of disaster? we'll ask luke russert about the

latest fiscal cliff back and forth. and sister simone campbell joins us for a discussion on faith, fairness, and community. all of that when "now" starts after the break. and cut! very good. people are always asking me how we make these geico adverts. so we're taking you behind the scenes. this coffee cup, for example, is computer animated. it's not real. geico's customer satisfaction is quite real though. this computer-animated coffee tastes dreadful. geico. 15 minutes could save you 15 % or more on car insurance. someone get me a latte will ya, please?